It was Katia who finally decided it for me, telling Laurence that it would be a good plan to hire me as a pacemaker for the half-marathon with both of them wanting to break the 1:40 barrier for the first time over the distance. I was thrilled to bits to be asked to pace. Normally Laurence tells me that I stress her out, but here she was asking me politely if I wouldn't mind acting as her hare in the race. I accepted willingly.
We straightened out the rules from the start. I would run at 1:40 pace (4:45 / km) as long as there was someone beside me, be it Katia or Laurence. If both slowed then I would slow too but as long as one kept going I would lead the way. Phewww - I wondered if my marriage would survive this race.
It was a mild, dry day for which we were thankful as the weather had been threatening over the weekend. We met up at the start with Katia, Muriel and François, who was looking to beat 1:24:30 today in line with McMillan for a sub-3hour marathon. I would be coaching the girls. We had an easy 5km warm-up and then headed to the start line ready for the race to begin.
We set off and the start of the race was crowded but not too agressive and we were all able to keep together for the first kilometre in 4:38. Slightly fast, but we'd got over the worst of the traffic now and were able to run more freely. In fact, I spent the early part of the race urging the girls to slow down. There was another woman from the club, Brigitte, and I could tell that both Laurence and Katia were itching to beat her. I just had to remind them that 20 kilometres left them plenty of time in which to do so.
5 km in 23:14 and we were still all together, managing to chat a little so they were holding up well. The course was basically over 2 laps and there was a slightly uphill section between the 6th and 8th kilometre before running beside the Seine to finish the loop. 1 lap gone now and 10 km under our belts in 46:43 still well on target and no undue signs of exhaustion from either of my nymphs. The first sign of easing off came from Laurence around the 13 kilometre mark as we came through the street section of Rueil for the second and last time.
I turned around now and watched her, worried that I'd have to put my plan in action and leave her while I ran with Katia. She urged me to go ahead and to keep the pace while she dropped back a few metres. We came back through to the uphill section in the park and this time it was Katia who fell back and Laurence who came past, overtaking her with a slight burst of pace. The slight uphill section was managed in 4:49 just below pace but with Laurence's acceleration we ran the next in 4:34! Katia fell back and we wouldn't see her until the end of the race.
I encouraged Laurence on now and she was running well, motivated but tiring. Next up, I saw Françoise from the club flagging and coming back to us. I told Laurence that she was catching her and Laurence wouldn't believe it at first as it had ever in her wildest dreams occurred to her that she would beat this runner. She was caught and overtaken in the next couple of kilometres and now there were only 3 to go. Laurence dug in hard and although the pace dropped, I told here that she'd still beat the objective and that all that mattered now was to focus on the finish. The final straight was probably the hardest for me as I wanted her to stretch for the final line but there was almost nothing left. A slight increase in speed to 4:43 pace and she crossed the line in 1:38:01 - a new record.
Great run and I was most proud, both of her and Katia who finished 20 seconds behind. Katia had promised me free beers for an evening if she beat the 1:40 objective so I was a very happy man.
Photo of Laurence in the final straight. Can you tell if she's trying hard or not ?
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